Gratonite

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This well-crystallized sulphosalt thumbnail displays the extremely rare lead arsenic sulphide, Gratonite, from the area of its Type Locality - Cerro De Pasco, Peru. Described and named in 1939, the world's best crystals of Gratonite still come from Cerro De Pasco. Crystals never reach more than a few mm in length and usually coalesce as radiating aggregates, often detached from matrix as small sprays typically less than 1 cm in diameter. This small specimen displays several well-formed trigonal Gratonite crystals reaching 3 mm in length crowning a small piece of matrix mounted on an acrylic base for display. A couple of broken crystals are evident, but examples of this species are so difficult to obtain and the main crystals here are quite large.